3106 W 12th Ave

3106 W 12th Avenue is a single storey Craftsman bungalow. The former address of this property is shown on the 1912 Goad’s Fire Map as 2845 Balaclava. At that time, there was no structure on the site. According to historical building permits, the home appears to have built around 1925 and its value at that time was $2500. The first occupant was JW Leach, a musician at the Strand Theatre.

The architect of the home is unknown and more research is needed to verify the details behind the construction of this home and its neighbours (3106, 3116, 3126, 3136 and 3146 West 12th Avenue) in 1925. However, some evidence points to the involvement of George Jorgenson, a carpenter living at either 3066 or 3076 West 11th Avenue at the time.

George Jorgenson was fairly active in house-building both before and after WW1 and appears to have built for others as well as possibly on spec. He was married to Birghilde Jorgenson and Mrs B. Jorgenson shows up as the owner for various houses he built.

It also appears that Joseph C. Mathers was involved in the construction of one or more of these houses. He was married to Alice D. Mathers, who is listed as the first owner for 3116 W 12th Avenue. J.C. Mathers had been involved in various aspects of the real estate industry, including sales, property management and construction. He also appears have been involved in spec house construction prior to World War II. His brother was James Bolivar (J.B.) Mathers, who had been the President of Dominion Trust and later Mercantile Mortgage and was very active in the real estate industry (Mathers Avenue in West Vancouver is named after him). At times, J.C. Mathers worked for and lived with his brother J.B. Mathers, and there is some possibility that J.B. Mathers funded the construction of these five houses.

If anyone has more information about the history of this address, please send VHF a message through the Contact Us form.

Source

COV Archives, ancestry.com, Canada Census, BC City Directories 1860 – 1955, VanMap, Heritage Vancouver Permits Database